Environmental Studies and Sustainability

About the Program

The Environmental Studies and Sustainability (ESS) program provides students with the in-depth knowledge, multidisciplinary perspectives, and critical skills needed to address the complex environmental problems of today and of the future. The ESS major explores disruptions to Earth’s global life-support systems, threats to biotic and human communities, the challenge of environmental justice, and both the obstacles to and the promise of environmental sustainability.

The major is designed with considerable flexibility so that students may pursue a wide range of interests and careers, such as research, environmental law, non-profit work, consulting, and work with state and federal environmental agency work at the state or federal level. Within their ESS major, students may elect the Environmental Science Option, which emphasizes appropriate skills and experiences for science-oriented careers and graduate study.

Integral to the major is an experiential requirement which can be met through relevant academic internships, study abroad, field research, civic engagement, and other appropriate activities. The program and Drew University’s Academic Internship Office help students locate opportunities. Experiential work must be approved in advance by the program director and must be completed before the start of the last semester of study.

Coursework for the major includes the study of Geographic Information Systems, a senior capstone seminar, and a wide variety of courses across the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. In addition to regular course offerings in ESS, electives are offered by other departments and interdisciplinary and disciplinary topics courses that meet major requirements are offered frequently. Some graduate school programs and other career options have specialized requirements such as statistics, organic chemistry, or economics; thus students are urged to seek advising from an ESS faculty member early in their academic careers. The Writing in the Major (WM) requirement for ESS is met by completing two courses: ESS 215/Environmental Science and ESS 400/Environmental Studies and Sustainability Capstone.

Advanced Placement (AP) Examinations

A score of 4 or 5 on the AP Environmental Science exam exempts ESS majors and minors from ESS 215/Environmental Science. ESS majors must then take BIOL 150/Ecology and Evolution as one of their core or elective courses in order to satisfy the ESS.